1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates generally to wireless communication devices whose functions may be controlled by a local wireless network such as a Bluetooth wireless network.
2. Related Art
Wireless communication devices are capable of transmitting and/or receiving signals carrying voice or data information. Examples of wireless communication devices include cellular telephones, pagers, wireless personal assistants, wearable computers with wireless Internet capabilities, and other devices capable of receiving and possibly transmitting information. These wireless communication devices communicate on and through an existing communication network infrastructure that may be wired or wireless. When the communication device is within range of a compatible communication network infrastructure, the wireless communication device may communicate with other wireless/wireline communication devices.
However, as the popularity of these wireless communication devices has increased dramatically in recent years, the problems caused by these devices have also increased. For example, ringing cell phones and pagers may annoy third parties or disrupt events being enjoyed by others. For example, airlines ask passengers to turn off their cell phones just before takeoff and landing so that passengers may be attentive to safety briefings. However, passengers are known to disobey or forget to comply with the airline""s requests. Similar risks of interference with telemetry systems may occur at other locations such as hospitals. Thus, there is a need for institutions to control the use of communication devices that are within a certain range of a sensitive institution or environment.
Similarly, communication devices have rudimentary systems for interacting with the user. For example, cell phones and pagers may ring or vibrate. Although a user can set the tone and volume of the ring, a user who is wearing headphones or a hearing aid may miss the call or page. Additionally, it is difficult for a hearing impaired person who relies on a hearing aid to use a cell phone. Hence, there is a need for an improved system for taking these situations into account.
A Bluetooth local network is a short range wireless communication network as defined by the Bluetooth standard. See the website http://www.bluetooth.com on the internet for additional details about the Bluetooth local network. The Bluetooth local network has a radio transceiver that operates in a globally available frequency band (2.4 giga hertz). A Bluetooth network infrastructure may be able to solve many of the limitations existing in current communications with respect to controlling wireless communication devices with network enabling commands transmitted from the network infrastructure.
This invention provides a wireless communication device that is capable of interacting with a wireless communication system infrastructure such that when the wireless communication device is within range of the infrastructure operating characteristics of the wireless communication device may be controlled. The wireless communication system infrastructure may be local or wide-area and may include, but not limited to, a Bluetooth local network, an infrared interface standard (IRDA), a network based on the 802.15 wireless local area network (LAN) standard, a network based on the 802.11 wireless LAN standard, a digital enhanced cordless telephone (DECT), or another communication system. The local wireless communication system infrastructure may be located in any site such as a concert hall, movie theater, restaurant, conference room, public transportation system such as an airplane, or airport. When the local wireless communication system infrastructure determines that a command is to be sent, the system may transmit a command to all wireless communication devices that are within range of the local wireless communication system infrastructure, or to a subset of them. The selection of wireless communication devices may be affected may be based on the type of communication device (e.g., pager vs. cell phone), the model of the communication device (e.g., Nokia 6190 cell phone vs. Motorola Star Tac cell phone), or any other selection criteria. For example, the local wireless communication system infrastructure in an airplane may send a command to all cell phones within its range to turn off at the time the airplane leaves the gate. As another example, a local wireless communication system infrastructure in a concert hall may send a command to change a cell phone from ringing mode to vibrate mode during a concert. The command may be any kind of command. The command can change any operating characteristic or function of the communication device, or cause the communication device to execute any set of instructions. For instance, the command can change any human perceptible indicator in the communication device such as the display, light, audible signal generator, vibrator and the like. The command may also optionally give the communication device the continued ability to communicate and interact with other communication networks. For instance, a local wireless communication system infrastructure in a concert hall may cause all cell phones and pagers to switch from ringing mode to vibrate mode from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. when a concert is in session. As a result, the cell phones and pagers can still communicate with their own communication networks to receive calls and pages, but an operating characteristic of the cell phones and pagers has been altered. Because there may be many local wireless communication systems, each of which established in a different or overlapping location, a wireless communication device can enter and exit various local wireless communication systems seamlessly.
Using a local wireless communication system infrastructure may also transmit data to or receive data from a communication device residing within its range. For example, the local wireless communication system may send weather information, local temperatures, local news and other data to the wireless communication device. Communication devices may use the local wireless communication system to communicate with the internet so that the communication device does not need to dial directly into the internet service provider (ISP) by its own means (e.g., modem, satellite, etc).
A communication device such as a cell phone may receive information about a user""s hearing aid and its xe2x80x9cprescriptionxe2x80x9d from a local wireless communication system and change its output characteristics to emulate the hearing aid so that the user can use the cell phone without the hearing aid. In another alternative, a cell phone can communicate with a local wireless communication system to turn off a user""s headphone when the cell phone rings. In still another alternative embodiment, the local wireless communication system can control any other device within the control of a wireless communication system. For instance, when a user turns on the television, the local wireless communication system knows that the television was turned on and thus automatically turns down or off the light near the television.
Other systems, methods, features and advantages of the invention will be or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims.